The non-player who makes up the number


King Xuan of the State of Qi who lived during the period of the Warring States was very fond of listening to music from the Yu. Each time he listened to such music, he must have three hundred players performing together in an orchestra. At that time, there was a man in the State of Qi by the name of Nan Guo. He did not know how to play the Yu but professed to be an expert in this musical instrument. He asked King Xuan to allow him to join his Yu orchestra. King Xuan was very glad and treated him like one of his many Yu players. Every time the orchestra performed, Nan Guo pretended to play like other musicians in the group. After the death of King Xuan, his son succeeded him as King Min who was also very fond of the Yu music except that he preferred the solo to the orchestra. He ordered members of the orchestra to play before him one by one. When Nan Guo came to know about this, he knew he could not continue to pass off as a player and bolted off quietly. 

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